Guess it's Frances turn. Here we go again. I wonder if AQ will issue another statement saying target french diplomats in addition to US ones or just go with target Western diplomats?

French Weekly fuels Muhammed row with more cartoons

By Nicholas Vinocur | Reuters – 25 mins ago

PARIS (Reuters) - A French magazine ridiculed the Prophet Mohammad on Wednesday by portraying him naked in cartoons, threatening to fuel the anger of Muslims around the world who are already incensed by a film depiction of him as a womanizing buffoon.

The French government, which had urged the magazine not to print the images, said it was temporarily shutting down premises including embassies and schools in 20 countries on Friday, when protests sometimes break out after Muslim prayers.

Riot police were deployed to protect the Paris offices of satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo after it hit the news stands with a cover showing an Orthodox Jew pushing the turbaned figure of Mohammad in a wheelchair.

On the inside pages, several caricatures of the Prophet showed him naked. One, entitled "Mohammad: a star is born", depicted a bearded figure crouching over to display his buttocks and genitals.

Initial reaction from Muslim countries was critical.

"Of course it will anger people further. It will raise tensions that were already dangerously high," said Sheikh Nabil Rahim, a leading Salafist cleric in Lebanon.

"We will try to keep things managed and peaceful, but these things easily get out of hand. I fear there could more targeting of foreigners, and this is why I wish they would not persist with these provocations."

In Egypt, Essam Erian, acting head of the powerful Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, told Reuters: "We reject and condemn the French cartoons that dishonor the Prophet and we condemn any action that defames the sacred according to people's beliefs."

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I support the right of people all over the world to self-identify and control their own fate. I have a soft spot for many of the struggles in the world of Islam. However, this is one area that confuses me. God, or Allah, is constantly ridiculed in print, in film, in deed, even here in this forum, yet somehow the founder of Islam is held in a higher reverence than his Creator.

A French magazine's decision to publish cartoons depicting a naked Prophet Mohammad triggered a new wave of fears at embassies in Europe, even as anger at the west continued to sweep through the Muslim world.

France announced Wednesday it will close 20 embassies in Arab and Muslim nations after the weekly Charlie Hebdo published the controversial cartoons. The images threaten to further inflame Muslim protesters and terror groups, who have demonstrated against the U.S. at embassies around the world since an anti-Islam film went viral last week.

The French Foreign Ministry issued a travel warning Wednesday urging French citizens in the Muslim world to exercise "the greatest vigilance," avoiding public gatherings and "sensitive buildings" such as those representing the West or religious sites. At the same time, the country -- which has western Europe's largest Muslim population -- plunged into new debate over the limits to free speech in a modern democracy.

France's prime minister said freedom of expression is guaranteed, but cautioned that it "should be exercised with responsibility and respect."

Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius warned that Charlie Hebdo could be throwing "oil on the fire," but said it's up to courts to decide whether the magazine went too far.

The cartoons could extend a wave of violence linked to a trailer for an amateurish film called the "Innocence of Muslims," which portrays the prophet as a fraud, a womanizer and a child molester, has killed at least 30 people in seven countries.

The U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, and three other Americans, were also killed in a strike on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi -- though it remains unclear whether the violence was a coordinated attack by terrorists.

On Wednesday, several hundred lawyers protesting the movie forced their way into an area in Pakistan's capital that houses the U.S. Embassy and other foreign missions. The United States temporarily closed its consulate in an Indonesian city because of similar demonstrations, and hundreds protested the film in Sri Lanka's capital and burned effigies of President Obama.

The magazine's crude cartoons played off the film and ridiculed the violent reaction to it. Riot police took up positions outside the offices of the magazine, which was firebombed last year after it released an edition that mocked radical Islam.

Charlie Hebdo's chief editor, who goes by the name of Charb and has been under police protection for a year, defended the cartoons.

"Muhammad isn't sacred to me," he said in an interview at the weekly's offices, on the northeast edge of Paris amid a cluster of housing projects. "I don't blame Muslims for not laughing at our drawings. I live under French law; I don't live under Quranic law."

Government authorities and Muslim leaders urged calm.

"This is a disgraceful and hateful, useless and stupid provocation," Dalil Boubakeur, rector of the Grand Paris Mosque, told The Associated Press. "We are not Pavlov's animals to react at each insult."

A small-circulation weekly, Charlie Hebdo often draws attention for ridiculing sensitivity around the Prophet Muhammad, and an investigation into the firebombing of its offices last year is still open. The magazine posted a statement online saying its website had been hacked.

Abdallah Zekri, president of the Paris-based Anti-Islamophobia Observatory, said his group is considering filing a lawsuit against the magazine.

"People want to create trouble in France," he said. "Charlie Hebdo wants to make money on the backs of Muslims."

Meanwhile, seven Egyptian Coptic Christians living abroad, including Nakoula Bassely Nakoula, who made the "Innocence of Muslims" film, and Florida Pastor Terry Jones, will be tried, presumably in absentia, by a criminal court for insulting Islam over the trailer, Egypt's public prosecutor said Tuesday.

The prosecutor said that convictions could be punishable by the death penalty, and called for the eight individuals to handed over to Egypt.

Fox News' Leland Vittert and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Does the public prosecutor actually think they will be handed over?

Education is what you get from reading the small print. Experience is what you get from not reading it.

The Liberal mind is where logic goes to die!

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Meanwhile, seven Egyptian Coptic Christians living abroad, including Nakoula Bassely Nakoula, who made the "Innocence of Muslims" film, and Florida Pastor Terry Jones, will be tried, presumably in absentia, by a criminal court for insulting Islam over the trailer, Egypt's public prosecutor said Tuesday.

The prosecutor said that convictions could be punishable by the death penalty, and called for the eight individuals to handed over to Egypt.

If administering the death penalty in absentia works for them, then it works for me.

So far there isn't much of a reaction to this from the Muslim world. Not even in the french speaking countries. Only Pakistan has called for some protests to be held against it on Friday. There is always tomorrow for the news to spread, but maybe it's not as much of an issue because there isn't much anti-French sentiment or maybe they're heeding the calls for calm amid the last violent eruption over the film. I wonder if compared to the film this may seem like a small thing in recent events.

Edited September 19, 2012 by Dr. A ♥ O

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So far there isn't much of a reaction to this from the Muslim world. Not even in the french speaking countries. Only Pakistan has called for some protests to be held against it on Friday. There is always tomorrow for the news to spread, but maybe it's not as much of an issue because there isn't much anti-French sentiment or maybe they're heeding the calls for calm amid the last violent eruption over the film. I wonder if compared to the film this may seem like a small thing in recent events.

Or, perhaps the French faux pas was not intended to provide the cover to execute a scheduled attack.

There is still little to no reaction about the French cartoons compared to the recent protests. Some protests have broken out in Afghanistan and Iran. Link The French cartoons are making fun of the fanaticism of the recent protests over the anti-Islamic "soft core porno" flick. Lets call it what it is shall we? Nakoula's genre is pornos and the D-list amatuer trailers reflect that by showing the Prophet going down on one of his wives and having sexual relations with several different wives including a 10 year old child. I suspect we may be seeing the Muhammad porno coming to the back of video rental store near you avaliable in the XXXAdult SectionXXX. In one of the French cartoons it shows the Prophet from behind bent over looking at his genitals. I guess to see if he has some.

That said the State department issued a warning for Americans to stay out of Pakistan because of the AQ, Taliban and militant elements that are threatening at this time during multiple anti-American protests. Link

Also in today's news US Officials say that there is no evidence the Libyan attacks on the consulate were planned. Link They say that it appears it was an oppurtunistic event. I hope they didn't use a NATO issued rocket propelled gernade launcher. At this moment it's only the Libyan officials that are claiming it was a planned attack by foreigners.

I guess we'll see what happens on Friday after the prayers. Typically protests are held then. We should be looking at the level of violence being used, the number of protests showing up to these events, the number of deaths that occur from these protests. In addition we should be analyzing the message from each country to tell whether they are angry about the French cartoons, or still angry about the anti-Islamic film, or if this is more about anti-American sentiment in the region as we've seen with some protesters.

So far there isn't much of a reaction to this from the Muslim world. Not even in the french speaking countries. Only Pakistan has called for some protests to be held against it on Friday. There is always tomorrow for the news to spread, but maybe it's not as much of an issue because there isn't much anti-French sentiment or maybe they're heeding the calls for calm amid the last violent eruption over the film. I wonder if compared to the film this may seem like a small thing in recent events.

I suppose so though there is still strong demonstrations going on against the filthy "American made" anti-Islam soft-core-porno-flick. After reading the description of the French cartoons I went to look them up online. I won't post them here but I'll provide the external link. From listening to the interview with the cartoonists and officials at the magazine office these kinds of images are what they do. They've even targeted the Catholic church in the past.

Two posts containing inappropriate comments and 1 quoting same have been removed. Sarcasm doesn't always come across appropriately and as it is easy to misinterpret sarcasm as 'hate' messages, the posts have been removed.

“...Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive--it's such an interesting world. It wouldn't be half so interesting if we knew all about everything, would it? There'd be no scope for imagination then, would there?”

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I support the right of people all over the world to self-identify and control their own fate. I have a soft spot for many of the struggles in the world of Islam. However, this is one area that confuses me. God, or Allah, is constantly ridiculed in print, in film, in deed, even here in this forum, yet somehow the founder of Islam is held in a higher reverence than his Creator.

Frankly, I don't get that either. I suppose it's because he's the only prophet that is rejected by Christians and Jews, those that Islam includes among the "people of the book."

Last week, the Onion posted a malicious cartoon of Moses, Jesus, the Buddha and Vishnu engaged in sex acts, and proclaimed that no one rioted over it, so that proved what? I don't understand why they think that Muslims aren't pained over maltreatment of Jesus, Moses, Abraham, etc. We revere them, too.

There is still very little street violence or protests attributed to the French cartoons even though over 20 embassies and schools have been shut down in anticipation of today. In some locations they've put up razor wire and stationed riot police outside. In London, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh there are large scale protests into the thousands burning American flags and effigies of President Obama. They are still upset over the anti-Islamic video "Made in America" and have paid little attention to the French publication while the anti-American sentiment burns.

The first report of a protest being held at a French Embassy today is in Cairo against French cartoons depicting the prophet naked. Around 20 peaceful demonstrators showed up, chanted slogans, waved banners and marched. Cairo is where the anti-Islam film protests enflamed a fire storm of anti-American sentiment around the globe.

No other reports yet of anti-French protests. In a surprising turn of events hundreds of Libyans are holding an anti-violence protest today called "Save Benghazi". They want the violence to be stopped and call for a stable country controlled by a solid Libyan police force instead of various militias.

Also Secrety Clinton appeared with the foreign minister from Pakistan and made a public statement calling what happened in Libyan a "Terrorist Attack". Which is a complete 180 from earlier this week and later last week where not only Clinton but the White House Press Secretary, Jay Carney, the State Dept's, Victoria Nuland and Ambassador Rice were saying that the attack appeared oppurtunistic and they didn't have intelligence otherwise at the moment.

I wonder if it had anything to with the latest intelligence reports or what Sen. McCain said in a statement yesterday?

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